My brethren, every believer hath grounds enough of assurance if their eyes were but enlightened. There is a whole epistle written on purpose; God wrote one book to shew the vanity of the creature; he hath written another book on purpose to assure us and every believer of salvation. The first Epistle of John is written on purpose for that end; you shall see it is his scope both by the first chapter, ver. 4,-so he beginneth, 'These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full,'-and by chap. v. 13, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life.' And, saith he, I write to all sorts of Christians that are called; so he saith, chap. ii. 12, 13, 'I write to you, children,'-those that are babes are capable of assurance, to know the hope of their calling, if God enlighten them, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men,' &c. All sorts of Christians are capable of assurance if God enlighten their eyes, and if they be once called there is abundance of grounds to give them assurance, to give them hope of salvation. He telleth us in the 10th verse of the 5th chapter, 'He that believeth hath the witness in himself,' that is, he hath the matter of it. Yea, there is no act of faith but putteth forth a witness ;-as when we come to a hollow place there is no voice but turneth back an echo, only if you speak low the echo answereth you low, but if you speak loud the echo is loud too; so if a man's faith speaks strongly, it will echo forth back again a strong witness;-there is the witness of blood and the witness of faith. He that believeth hath the witness in himself.' There is no grace a man hath but is a ground of assurance. There is no exercise of grace but is a ground of assurance. In your very not sinning you may fetch assurance from it; so John telleth us, 1 Epistle iii. 9, ‘He cannot sin, he hath the seed of God in him;' you shall find that in your hearts that you cannot sin; there is an evidence of grace when you are tempted to sin. The grounds that every believer hath for assurance of salvation, if he did but know them, they are infinite ones and infallible.So much for the first observation.

Obs. 2.-To give you a second observation. Though a man have never so much ground of hope from God's calling him, yet, notwithstanding, he must have the eyes of his mind enlightened to know what is his hope, what are the grounds of evidence and assurance of salvation; and further than he hath an eye and an act of knowledge drawn forth, he cannot see it; therefore the Apostle prayeth that the eyes of their minds may be enlightened, that they may know what is the hope of his calling.'

To make this plain to you. All graces, as they work with a borrowed strength,-not with a strength of their own, but with the strength of the Holy Ghost, so they shine to comfort you with a borrowed light, as the stars do with the light of the sun. A man hath a natural power to know what is within him, so saith the Apostle, 1 Cor. ii. 11. Let any man ask me what I think, I can tell him, and so can you; it is from the natural spirit that is in every one. 'What man,' saith he, knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man that is in him?' The spirit of a man that is in him doth know it, it can tell you a man's thoughts and affections; but if you would come to know whether faith be in you or not, or whether true love to Christ be in you or no, or zeal for his glory, now you must have the Spirit to enlighten your eyes; though it be in you, the mere spirit of a man will not do it; so it followeth, 'We have received the Spirit that is of God, that we may know the things that are freely given us of God.' If you will

come to know whether you have grace or no, which God hath bestowed upon you, here you must have the eyes of your mind enlightened, that you may know,' saith the Apostle, or else you will not see it. Your graces shine with a borrowed light. You can tell, 'I think such thoughts as believers think;' but to tell that this is true faith and differeth from that of hypocrites, this you cannot tell without the Holy Ghost enlighten you. Therefore he prayeth 'that the eyes of their minds may be enlightened, that they may know.'

I will give you a scripture more for this, Rom. viii. 16,-mark that place, -It is the Spirit, saith he, that 'beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God.' He doth not only say he beareth witness to our spirits, but he beareth witness with our spirits. Our spirits, our graces, (that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,) never witness unless the Holy Ghost witness with them; if he do not give in his testimony with them, your graces will give no witness at all; if he do not enlighten the eyes of your mind to know, you will not know the hope of your calling, you will have no assurance.

Likewise that other place, Rom. xv. 13; the Apostle prayeth there, that they may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.' Doth a man abound in hope? Hath he any comfort? any assurance?—for I take 'hope' there for assurance, as I do here, any confident persuasion? It is, saith he, through the power of the Holy Ghost.-So much for the second point.

I might interpret it thus. The scripture is not of private interpretation;' so saith the Apostle, 2 Pet. i. 20. Read another book, your natural understanding will help you to understand it; but, saith he, the scripture is not of private interpretation; that is, no man's private understanding will help to understand it, but that Spirit that writ it. Look into your own hearts, there is a word written in the heart, as here the word is written in our books; that word written in the heart, the law written there, is not of private interpretation; all the human wit that any man hath who hath grace, cannot help him to do it, to know the meaning of it, but that Spirit that wrote it there; for so you know we are called the epistle of Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,' 2 Cor. iii. 3. He only is able to read it; unless he enlighten your eyes, give you an eye, and give you light, and draw forth an act of knowledge, you will not know what is the hope of his calling, you will not know what ground you have for assurance of salvation.

Obs. 3.-To come to a third observation, and it is a good one. You know I interpreted the hope of his calling partly in this sense, to be that which God calleth you to have. Art thou a believer? He calleth thee to hope; as he calleth you to holiness, so he calleth you to assurance, to hope. What is the reason then that poor souls want comfort? It is God's mind you should have it, there is enough in the word to comfort you; there is enough in your own hearts to comfort you, there is a Holy Ghost that dwelleth within you. God, I say, calleth you to hope. Satan, my brethren, and Antichrist call you to doubt; so the Papists do; but God calleth you to hope, calleth you to assurance. The Papists exact of every man as necessary to salvation, to believe a harder point than the assurance of their own salvation; for they exact of them to believe that the Church of Rome is the only Church of Christ, to believe the mother, but they would have men to doubt of their Father; they would have men to be bastards, that is the truth of it. But, saith he, 'that you may know what is the hope of your calling;' he would have them know it. The Apostle writing to men that had assurance,

to old men, saith he, you have known the Father from the beginning, not only the mother, but the Father. It is a harder point to believe that the Church of Rome is the only true Church of Christ, than to believe that thou art in Christ, and there is more evidence in thy own heart, if the Holy Ghost irradiate thy mind, than there is of the other, for that is an extrinsical thing, and yet they are strict in that point; upon pain of damnation a man must believe that that is the true Church: yet they would not have a man believe he is a true member of the Church, nor of Jesus Christ. No, it is what is the hope of his calling;' he calleth you to hope, that is his commandment.

Rom. xv. 13, 'The God of hope fill you with all peace and joy in believing.' God is a God of hope, and he would fill your hearts with peace and joy through believing. He is not only called the God of hope because he is the object of hope, but because he is the author of it; and all the Scripture is written to work hope in us, so saith ver. 4 of the same chapter. God's mind is, that the saints should have nothing else, that you may know what is the hope of his calling;' only your eyes are dark indeed, there lieth the defect, naturally you are dark and can know none of these grounds, therefore the Apostle prayeth that the eyes of their mind may be enlightened, that they may know what is the hope of his calling.

Obs. 4.—In the fourth place, if you observe it, it is what is the hope of his calling, it is not what is the hope of your calling, or what is the hope of your grace; he giveth it not that title. Take calling in that sense for God's work of conversion upon a man's soul, I do observe but this out of it, and it is to you a note of much consequence: If you come to have good assurance that the Holy Ghost giveth, he will draw your eye unto his work, rather than unto the work that is wrought in yourselves.

I will explain myself to you as well as I can. It is the property of the Holy Ghost when he doth give any man assurance and hope, and enlighteneth his eyes to see what the hope of God's calling is, not to make the heart pore upon the work in himself: but to draw his heart up to God as the worker of it, and to have a hint from thence to stand admiring of him that thus called him, and by his mighty power wrought these things in him through his free grace. When men look upon grace wrought in themselves, self-love rejoiceth in it, and they boast as if they had not received it. No, saith the Apostle, look not upon the hope of your, but upon the hope of his calling; as having received it from him, let it lead you to the fountain of his free grace. I do observe it there in 1 Cor. ii. 12, (I quoted the place before,) We have received,' saith he, 'the Spirit of God, that we may know the things that are freely given us of God.' Mark that expression; not only know the thing, that this grace is wrought, but with this addition, it is the free work of God's grace. This is the end always of the Holy Ghost when he giveth assurance, that is his manner, as he discovereth his graces to you, these things are in you, so that these things are freely given you of God, he leadeth you to the fountain of his grace, that you may admire it and fall down before it; that you may know, saith he, praying for assurance, what is the hope of his calling; he fixeth their eyes there.

Next to communion with God and knowledge of him, he prayeth they may know their own interest.

The next thing that is to be handled is this-and what is the riches of that glory, which is the glory which they had assurance of. Put but these three things together, my brethren, and do but think with yourselves, what mighty effects it would work, what comfortable Christians it would make you, if

your hearts came up to what Paul prayeth for here that you lived in the knowledge and communion with God day by day, to converse with him as he is the God of Christ and the Father of glory, as he calleth him in the next verse; and next to that add, the grounds and evidences of our assurance, and eyes enlightened to see them, admiring the love of God in you and toward you; and, thirdly, add the eyes of your understanding further enlightened, with mighty vast apprehensions of that heaven you have interest in, of the riches of the glory of his inheritance. If a man's soul would live but in these thoughts, what a mighty powerful Christian would that man be! Paul had all these things in his heart, and when he cometh to pray for men he prayeth after this rate, and this is the meaning of his prayer.

SERMON XXI.

And what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.-VER. 18. As I told you, this is one of the Apostle's prayers, as he hath many other scattered up and down in his Epistles. In this prayer of his you have these two parts: First, the person that he prayeth to; the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. He doth set him forth under such considerations as were suitable unto the matter of his prayer, as I shall shew you in the closure of this sermon. Then, secondly, you have the matter of his prayer, which is for knowledge. 1. Intimate knowledge of God, intimate communion with him, as I have opened to you; 'that he may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge' (or acknowledgment) 'of him.' 2. He prayeth God to give them eyes enlightened, eyes of their understanding. That which is translated the eyes of your understanding being enlightened,' if you will read it according to the original, as many interpreters go, it referreth to the word give; 'that he would give you eyes of your understanding enlightened,' enlightened to know what is the hope of his calling; that is the second part of his prayer. And then, thirdly, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints are. And, fourthly, what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe.

I am yet in the 18th verse. It hath two parts. It hath first a description of spiritual knowledge. It is a 'giving of enlightened eyes of the understanding, that you may know ;' which I handled the last time. There are, secondly, two several objects which these eyes of the understanding being enlightened do serve to know. The first is, What is the hope of his calling. The second is, What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.

I opened to you the last time what was meant by the knowing of the hope of his calling. I told you, that by hope, as I understood it, was meant, not the thing hoped for, for that is expressed afterward, but the grace of hope, the grace of assurance, and the grounds of that assurance, the grounds of hope. Hope is taken for the grace of hope, and it is taken likewise for the grounds of hope, as well as for the thing hoped for. It is taken for the grounds of hope; I gave you one scripture for it. I will add but this in your ordinary expression in our English dialect, when you come and ask a physician concerning a dying friend, or one that is sick, you will say, What hope is there? that is, what grounds of hope? There is hope in Israel concerning this thing; that is, there are grounds of hope. Now then, the Apostle's meaning is plainly this: he prayeth they may know both what assurance and hope God calleth them to have; what is the hope of his calling, what his will, and mind, and command is, you should have; he commandeth that you should be assured, be men full of hope, and of great hope; for by 'calling' is sometimes in Scripture meant his command, as I have shewed you. Or else, in the second place, and together with it, for it is both meant, he prayeth that they may know all the grounds that may give them hope by virtue of